When is the description too much

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Inkroverts
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Re: When is the description too much

Post by Inkroverts »

I think the description is too much when it is used for the sake of increasing the word count. I saw some online short fictions, where the writers would spend paragraphs upon paragraphs to describe the face of the character, the clothes of the character, every furniture in the room, and so on.
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Post by Natalie_Taylor »

I think, more powerful than description, is action. Not plot-based action, but describing the actions of the characters. What are there physical responses when someone tells them something? How do they react, what kind of things they say. This is how you learn about people in the real world, so why wouldn't it be a better way to learn about characters.
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Post by Gracedscribe »

I agree that striking a balance through the different elements of a story is a necessary exercise. In my opinion, both extremes of error (too much or too little description) can be fixed when the book is subjected to the right kind of editing. A good editor will be able to lead the author through those areas of the book that do not add to the whole.
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Post by Mallory Porshnev »

I agree that detailed sex scenes are too much for me. I find Nora Roberts to be too graphic actually. Opinions differ and there's a variety of readers out there. As for vulgar language, I can handle it if it fits with one of the characters. If all of the characters are cursing all the time for no reason, it's too much.
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Post by Nimisha_91 »

Description helps you visualise the scene, which is something I always do when I read. But too much of it just makes the book long and boring. Sometimes I feel like authors add detailed descriptions just to add pages to a book!
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Post by iknwuzoh »

Description is too much when it does not add to the story. It is okay if its moderate.
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Post by klee8988 »

I wish she had given more physical descriptions of the characters, to help consistently visualize, but other than that it was well written in my opinion. I am not a fan of the foul language, but I have read romance in the past with erotic scenes. The line for me was when some of the books would have sex scenes in graphic detail on every other page, in some books I even skipped a few to try and find an actual plot! That's when I switched to suspense more than romance.
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Post by Ddennis88 »

Description needs to add to the value of the characters and the story. It shouldn't just be fluff. Information the reader will no longer need in the next 4 sentences is not necessary. I recently read a novel where the author intricately described every introduced character. It made it very hard for me to keep going and to remember the important details that I needed to remember.
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Post by Ashley Louise »

I wholeheartedly agree with this. I'm not bothered by language or things being too graphic IF they add to the story. If it seems tedious to read and I find myself asking, "well that was gross, why did I need to know this?" then it's too much for me!
monikelldell wrote: 14 Jul 2019, 01:50 In my opinion description becomes too much when it doesn't add to the story any longer. I think the best authors use description for a purpose and not just to fill space.
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Post by kali09 »

I'm not one for gratuitous sex scenes, but well placed profanity is more effective than "shucks" or "golly gee".
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Post by Andy_C »

I think, in terms of character description and backstory, it’s a case of show v tell, and you as a reader need to decide how much telling you can handle. I’m a fan of authors showing us their character through how they respond to events, rather than slapping in loads of backstory to explain why they did this or that. I also think profanity should be used only sparingly, even if it is true to life or a particular character that they would swear a lot. It just doesn’t read well otherwise.
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Post by Ashley Louise »

arc1g15 wrote: 10 Sep 2019, 02:26 I think, in terms of character description and backstory, it’s a case of show v tell, and you as a reader need to decide how much telling you can handle. I’m a fan of authors showing us their character through how they respond to events, rather than slapping in loads of backstory to explain why they did this or that. I also think profanity should be used only sparingly, even if it is true to life or a particular character that they would swear a lot. It just doesn’t read well otherwise.
This is an awesome point that I agree with. I prefer reading the actions and reactions of a character to get to know them rather than page after page of backstory. Some backstory is important but too much is exactly that, too much!
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Post by Rosemary Wright »

For me, I think there should be a good balance. Though, sometimes, it's not easy, an author should try to give just enough description of characters and scenes to enable readers to relate more to the story.
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Post by Andy_C »

Rosemary Wright wrote: 11 Sep 2019, 10:51 For me, I think there should be a good balance. Though, sometimes, it's not easy, an author should try to give just enough description of characters and scenes to enable readers to relate more to the story.
Yeah I agree, I particularly like those very minuscule details that speak volumes, when an author zooms in on one aspect of a character rather than trying to describe their appearance entire. To give a pretty poor example: bitten fingernails can tell me that a character is nervous.
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Post by Bles »

To me, I think the information given was enough. If there was too much description then it was worth it and it wasn't just for the sake of filling up space.
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